Upper East Side Townhouse, Hamptons Property to Benefit Animals

Irving and Phyllis Millstein came from modest backgrounds in Brooklyn and became wealthy from a fashion business created by Mr. Millstein. They were also animal lovers, and without children or close family at the time of their deaths, they knew the suitable beneficiaries for their money.

The exterior of the 81st Street home. Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal

The Millsteins' estate—including a townhouse on the Upper East Side listed for slightly under $16 million, a home in the Hamptons and an extensive art collection—is being sold to benefit a charitable trust for animals in their name.

"They were great animal lovers all their lives," said Robert J. Randell, executor of the Millsteins' estate, who will determine the distribution of the trust's funds once the estate is completed.

At one point as young adults, Ms. Millstein worked as a bookkeeper and Mr. Millstein as a welder, according to Mr. Randell, who provided the couple with legal counsel for more than 40 years. After several years working in the garment industry, Mr. Millstein in 1963 co-founded Count Romi, a fashion line specializing in high-end rain wear that became highly successful.

"While they were going through all this [financial] transformation, they were very humble," said Mr. Randell. "They didn't lord themselves over anybody," he said. "The more they had, the more generous they became."

ENLARGE

The dining and kitchen area of the townhouse's garden level.
Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal

In 1971, the Millsteins purchased a six-floor, 7,500-square-feet townhouse at East 81st Street, according to public records. The home was a brownstone built in 1883 but nothing of its original exterior remained, according to a research report commissioned by the couple.

The couple asked architect Robert A.M. Stern to redesign a triplex in the townhouse for their use. Mr. Stern finished the facade of the building in gray stucco and dug out part of the backyard to bring light into the lowest level of the triplex, which he redesigned with an open-plan layout and large, curved windows at the rear.

There are six apartments on the floors above their triplex that the Millsteins rented out while in the house.

The current potential rental income from the units plus the triplex after expenses and taxes is about $360,000 annually, according to Fred Williams of Sotheby'sBID1.14% International Realty. "It was obviously a very pet-friendly building," said Mr. Williams, who is the broker for the townhouse listing.

The couple also asked Mr. Stern to furnish the house. "I'm not allowed to change anything," Mr. Randell recalled Ms. Millstein saying. Mr. Stern "set it up this way, and it'll stay," she said, according to Mr. Randell.

ENLARGE

The backyard is shown.
Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal

Looking at pictures of the triplex now, 40 years later, "they kept it amazingly as designed," said Mr. Stern. He said the Millsteins were clients who accepted the ideas of their architects to a large degree, but insisted on an all-white interior for their home. Also, Ms. Millstein "was mad for cats," Mr. Stern said.

Mr. Millstein died in May 1998, while Ms. Millstein lived until March 2009.

Their art collection was sold through Sotheby's auction house, with the last piece, a Roy Lichtenstein banner called "Pistol," sold in June. The sale of the collection fetched $3.5 million and included an Alexander Calder mobile that sold for $1.76 million, Mr. Randell said.

Sotheby's confirmed the collection's sale but didn't specify the total price that the collection fetched.

The couple's Hamptons house in Amagansett was designed by Gregory Zwirko and is expected to be listed with Neil Hausig of Sotheby's International Realty for around $7 million in a few weeks.

Their generosity extended to the caretaker of their Amagansett home, Richard Grimminger, who met them in the 1980s when he was working as a contractor. Mr. Grimminger went on to assist Ms. Millstein with maintenance of the house, her bookkeeping and her transportation, which included frequent trips to the vets for her pets.

"They were her children," Mr. Grimminger said of Ms. Millstein. "Pets were faithful, that's what it is. She loved her animals; she would do anything for them."

About 10 years ago, Ms. Millstein purchased a house for Mr. Grimminger and his family. "Exceptional, good-hearted, wonderful friends—that's what they turned out to be," he said.

At various points, the Millsteins had a Maltese poodle, a Doberman, German shepherds, birds and cats. Once, Mr. Randell remembers calling Ms. Millstein about legal documentation and having their conversation interrupted by loud cursing and yelling.

"I was about to hang up and call 911," said Mr. Randell, who thought Ms. Millstein was grappling with an intruder. But it was Pedro, Ms. Millstein's parrot, on a rant. "It sounded just like her," said Mr. Randell. "I guess there are two sides to every coin and I'm sure that cursing was something he heard somewhere."

One of the planned beneficiaries of the trust and a recipient of gifts from the Millsteins in the past is the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, the school attended by their East Hampton veterinarian, Dr. Jonathan Turetsky. Mr. Randell is in talks with the school on how the trust's funds can benefit veterinary students training to work in shelters and underserved neighborhoods, according to the school's dean, Dr. Deborah Kochevar.

"I honestly never knew that they were such wealthy people," says Dr. Turetsky. "They did not make you feel like they had money or felt entitled. They were modest people who cared about their pets."

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